21 days

The Next 21 Days – Days 19-21

by Chavah Kinloch on April 6, 2011

Loving my hubby’s old GI Joe top.

Oh hell, stuff it. I’ve been a total FAIL at keeping up with my 21 days posts and I’ve only got three days left to write about. It’s not because I’ve been slacking, I promise I haven’t, I just have a very busy schedule at present… although yesterday and today I’ve spent more time online than I have the entire month.

So I’m just going to finish off these final three days in one pop. One post, one ending. I’d like to consider it a happy one.

Over the past *ahem* 21 days (give or take 1o) I lost three and a half inches from my waist (9.5cm) but only 2 cm from my hips. There are an extra 3 cm gone from my arms, 4cms from my calves & 6cm from my thighs. I have no idea if I lost any weight because I still haven’t replaced the battery in my scales.  Either way, it doesn’t really matter to me. It’s been a welcomed relief to stay away from the scales.

I officially dropped that extra size I’d been trying to move and that now totals 5 dress sizes gone. I still have three more to go. I have just one more size to drop before I can fit pretty much everything in my wardrobe. There are a few smaller sizes here and there but overall most things will fit. I need to drop that size because then I won’t have to buy anything for winter hehe. I am majorly lacking in bottoms. Who know’s, maybe if I drop that extra size my Nana will stop calling me fat every time I see her. In the past, oh say 15 years, I have only heard her say “Missy, you skinny!” once when I went on holiday to attend one of my BFF’s wedding . In all my othert visits it’s been “Chabbah, you too fat.” Gotta love her honesty.

My arms feel solid and fabulous but they look saggy and wrinkled. I’m happy to accept that this is my fate. There’s not much I can do about that without some type of surgery which I’m not about to have. My body has been through a lot in it’s short years and I know inside that they’ve come a long way. I’ll just keep going till they look as good as they feel. Some day! Just as long as I keep working at it.

What has happened though, over this part of the journey, is body acceptance. I’m actually beginning to love my body, even with all it’s faults. I’ve done amazing things with it, birthed giant babies, recovered from an inability to even sit/stand/walk without crying from that damage that occurred, gained so much muscle I’ve seen my entire body morph.

More than body acceptance I’ve managed to accept the way I choose to live. I’ve had a chance to think about everything that has happened since I gained the weight and realised that throughout all of that I’ve helped my family a lot. I’ve done a lot for myself while juggling their needs. Battled extremely bad lows while holding everything together. It’s meant that sometimes I’ve turned into a recluse when I’m working but I actually really enjoy that part of it. I have come to accept that I’m not the Mum that makes it to every school activity, honestly just because I don’t want to and I’m ok with that. I get more than enough quality time with my kids. I’ve come to understand that just because I do it all from home, doesn’t mean I’m not doing anything so it’s ridiculous to live up to expectations that I’ll make it to every event during the day when you would never expect it from someone that works in an office; and I think I’m going to start saying that. I work damn hard and am tired of feeling belittled because I don’t fit into peoples little boxes.

I simplified everything to lose weight but it did a lot more than that for me. With the help of my extremely dedicated husband we’ve got a system that works well for us. I found my drive for success that had slipped away to allow me to exist in mediocrity and because of that drive in a few short weeks we have come so far both physically and financially. Sacrifices have paid off (that was my FB status the pother day).

I haven’t reached the end of my journey, that’s still a long way off but for now I am satisfied. I’ll update you again sometime soon, not sure when but it’ll come. For now I just want to say thanks for being there and letting me rant, share my small victories and being compassionate and understanding. For some reason people like you are disappearing from our world.

Until next time, keep going and remember:


Yes you are!

{ 0 comments }

The Next 21 Days- Day 3

by Chavah Kinloch on March 6, 2011

I’m not doing so good at writing everyday so far. I’m basically just too tired. I didn’t stop to think of the timing of this challenge so please just bare with me as I get back on top of things in the blogging world. Every day will be covered, I just may be a bit slow to write about it.

Burn Calories During Family Fun Time

One of my favourite things in this world is spending time with my family. Part of the reason I want myself and my husband to be healthy is to set a good example to our children, we are after all their biggest influence in life.

With the weather still being sunny (most of the time) what better way to get fit, create memories and set a good example than by going on bush walks/hikes/tramps/trails – whatever it is you call them where you live. This is how we’re spending a lot of our time on weekends. Just hanging out being active at least one day per weekend and hey, the bonus is that these walks are free. No gym membership necessary.

Children are naturally active – or at least the should be. I don’t think my own kids realise how much of an example they set for me. Every day they’re outside riding their bikes and scooters, playing hula hoop, skipping or kicking/bouncing a ball around. The swing on their playground and climb trees and fences. They’re doing what I did when I was young and I know they’re having fun. So since last year I’ve been trying to take a leaf out of their book by re-learning how to just play.

By doing little things like these walks, I don’t even feel like there’s any effort being put in because they’re fun and new, but two hour walks in the scorching sun? Yep. They work. So get out there, grab your kids or grab your BFF and go exploring the world around you.

Each week an adult only needs two and a half hours of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous activity to stay healthy; with just one fun family day out a week a person can accomplish that in the one day. It’s so simple. After that, everything else you do in the week is a bonus. Seems like a win to me!

{ 4 comments }

The Next 21 Days – Day 1

by Chavah Kinloch on March 2, 2011

“You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

So this is where I’m starting this round of 21 days. Yesterday I mentioned I had a session with a trainer. That session was to get me out of my comfort zone. I have enough knowledge to come up with programs of my own but I wanted something designed to push me and I didn’t feel as though at this point in time I was going to put myself in a situation I didn’t want to be in, so I made someone else do it instead. Seems logical to me. I arranged to have a new program designed that was quick and would make me sweat from head to toe; and that’s what I got. At this stage I’m kind of intimidated by it but seeing as I’ve lived through it once, all should be well. It reminds me of kick boxing training actually, very high intensity which makes me want to pass out just thinking about it. It makes it even more obvious to me that I need to do this because I’m more than capable, I’m just allowing myself to be lazy.

It wasn’t all bad, a few cool things came out of it. First of all I overcame my fear of jumping. Yep, a fear of jumping. Since hurting my pelvis I’ve been really cautious about what I jump on/off. You would be too if you’d torn your insides! I’ve talked about it before though, that sometimes mentally it’s harder to overcome an injury than it is physically. I’ve jumped off my deck a few times to play with my kids and skipped with my daughters skipping rope a handful of times but I’ve been too scared to get both feet up in the air and really leap. After all, fat people don’t jump, we don’t really have a need to lol. The fear is probably more one of falling or landing badly and breaking something, than jumping itself. Seeing as I hate to show fear in front of other people, when she put me on the spot to leap over some wooden boxes you’re damn right I jumped…and I survived…and I’ll be jumping every day from now on.

Second, the trainer looked me right in the eye and stated “You’re really strong” then proceeded to load me up on weights for my arms. I’ll take that as a compliment.

Third, as I was doing this exercise (but my arm is on a bench and I lower my side/bring it up again – the one below is how I do it at home)

she made comment that I made it look easy and that she’d had women the same size as her (tiny) come in who were completely incapable of doing even one which meant their core muscles were basically non existent, to which I couldn’t help but reply “So not bad for a fat chick then huh.”

There we have it, I’m pushing past fears and getting rid of ‘fat girl’ stereotypes. Feeling good about it, at least I’m doing something! I won’t be the big girl forever.

So remember everyone, don’t be intimidated, don’t stop yourself short or your goals because it’s getting difficult. “You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”

{ 6 comments }

21 Days Is Coming Back

by Chavah Kinloch on March 1, 2011

It starts right here again tomorrow. I figure enough time has passed and I’ve managed to stay on track but now I’m ready to fine tune everything again. My abilities have changed, I’ve learned more about my own circumstance and know which areas I need to focus. I don’t know what to expect this time around, just as I didn’t know what would happen the last but I’ll just do what I did during the first 21 days and take it one day at a time.

For those that have no idea what I’m talking about by 21 Days, you can check out this roundup post, it will explain everything.

To refresh your memories, the reason I choose 21 days is because that’s how long it takes to develop a habit. It’s not an impossible task to stick to anything for that amount of time. So if you’d like to come along for this journey too, you’re more than welcome. Nothing I’ve done/I do is overly difficult, it’s just about not calling it quits when you feel completely over putting in all the effort it takes.

Let me reiterate; my aim is not to be thin, nor is it even to be what is ‘medically recommended for my height’ which would be around 50kg. Can I state that my eight year old daughter has friends that are 50kgs… happy, healthy little girls. I’m telling you now, I’m not interested in that. The last time I was 50kg I would have been about 10, that’s obviously not me. It looks great on a lot women but I’m not one of them. When I met my husband I sat between a healthy 58-64kg and my body was great, when I was 7 months pregnant with my daughter I hit 80kg and thought the world was going to end, now seeing as I’ve had four gigantor children and could sit on a heavyweight boxer and crush him, well, lets just say I’ll take whatever I can get. So long as I can wear whatever the heck I want and feel good about my body, it’s a win. I’m sculpting what I’ve been given, not trying to live out a ridiculous fantasy of becoming a 5′ 9″ supermodel with legs from here to Africa, although if by some miracle losing weight made me grow 5 & 1/2 inches I’d learn to love it. If you want to be completely up to date with my journey so far, you can check out my latest weight loss post here.

So here we go, the posts start all over again tomorrow with ‘The Next 21 Days – Day 1′.

As for today, I’ve got a personal training session booked (free with my gym membership) and a date with my hubby for some yoga.

I’ll see you tomorrow.

{ 4 comments }

Weigh In Progress – Photo Update

by Chavah Kinloch on February 20, 2011

Here’s my first update for the month.

I originally just forgot to take my measurements the first week since my last weight loss related update, so then figured I would update the next week. That week came and I did weigh in and take measurements but was having a really busy week so didn’t get time to write. The next week I weighed in again and thought “Meh, I don’t feel like writing” so I didn’t. Now this week, I’m thinking “I better hurry up and write something or they’ll think I’ve fallen off the wagon.” Well, I forgot to take measurements again so I probably need to be writing about this topic more often than not. Rest assured I’m still going full steam ahead on the food/exercise, just majorly slacking on the updates.

So here’s what happened:

Week one: Gained 1.1kg – Forgot to measure

Week two: Gained another 1.1kg – Lost 11.5cm

Week three: Lost 3.6kg – Lost another 9cm

Week four: Lost 100g  - Forgot to measure

Total: (as I know it without latest measurements) 3.7kg over 4 weeks lost. 20.5cm dropped. Hopefully for good but we all know my weight loss pattern. Yay-Yay-Poo-Yay.

.

Above: Latest photos from four weeks ago before dropping the latest 20.5cm measurements.

So are you ready for some weird little facts I’ve discovered over the past few weeks?

Fact: I am still 1kg heavier than I was when I started weight loss after having Davis.

Fact: Even though I’m 1kg heavier than I was then, I am 102cm smaller than I was then.

Fact:

Fact: I hurt my pelvis again about two months ago. I was doing a weird little kick the rug with one leg to get it in the right position while lifting the dining room table action and I heard a weird noise down there and felt a lot of pain. Yeah, probably shouldn’t have done that. I’m getting some pains again now and might have to call my physiotherapist. Oops. :/

Fact: I ate takeaways for the first time in ages this week. Disgusting. That put an end to that.

Fact: I’m constantly wearing the jeans I wore when I was newly pregnant with Boston. My waist instantly thickened out when he was conceived so I had to buy them. I went up two sizes practically overnight yet my weight hadn’t changed. Back then I weighed 25kg less than I do now. I.Fit.The.Jeans.WTH. I wrote about this triumph before but it still shocks me.

Fact: I am constantly learning on this journey. The body can do amazing things. There are surprises around every corner.

Fact: Time to keep going! Long way to go yet.

{ 6 comments }

Announcement and Weigh In Day

I know it’s weigh in day but in yesterday’s post, the last thing I mentioned was that my nephew was entering the world at any moment. Well he’s here! And he’s simply beautiful. I am mortified I live so far away and can’t just go and visit him to cuddle the heck out of this precious [...]

It’s Weigh In Day Again! – Read On…

Another week has gone! I have nothing to confess, if there were a poster woman for discipline, I’d be the lady they picked to feature in it. Totally serious, if I thought I was good the previous weeks, this week I blew them all out of the water. I was such a good girl and [...]

← Previous Entries